Students

COMP8990 – Master of Research - Computing

2023 – Session 1, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Mehmet Orgun
mehmet.orgun@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
80
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

The 800-level components of the Master of Research are not designed around units. The thesis together with four core research activities form a single coherent research unit based on individual research plans and will consists of the following:
1. Research Frontiers 2: you will attend a number of department or faculty-run sessions and engage in a program of activities developing your knowledge of the sub-disciplinary field in which you want to situate your own research
2. Literature Review: you will attend sessions explaining how researchers in your field engage with previous research literature, and produce a draft of your own literature review for your thesis
3. Research Methods: with other students and led by academic staff, you will develop the research methods you will use in your research project
4. Research Planning: through a combination of group sessions and individual work with your supervision team, you will develop a plan for a large scale research project, part of which will be completed in the MRes
5. Thesis: you will complete a small research project, and write it up in a short thesis of about 20,000 words.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Formulate a research question that has the potential to make original contributions within their research field
  • ULO2: Research and compose a comprehensive and critical literature review in a specific research area centered around a research question.
  • ULO4: Use well-developed judgement to undertake research ethically and responsibly at the highest professional standards
  • ULO3: Conduct independent scholarly research in your field or discipline following well-established research methodology within their research field.
  • ULO5: Undertake a qualitative or quantitative analysis of the data collected, identify and apply appropriate research methods for the research question at hand, inclusive of critical reasoning, argumentation and justification.
  • ULO6: Write a significant research thesis of 20,000 words with a professional presentation

General Assessment Information

Late submissions will not be accepted without an approved Special Consideration request.  Assessments submitted after the due date will receive a mark of zero.

 

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Project planning 0% No Week 4
Research Methods 0% No Week 10
Literature Review 0% No Week 13
Research Frontiers 2 10% No Late June
Thesis 90% No November

Project planning

Assessment Type 1: Plan
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: Week 4
Weighting: 0%

 

The objective is to provide training in project management, and planning of a major research project. A brief project plan & budget will be developed.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Formulate a research question that has the potential to make original contributions within their research field
  • Use well-developed judgement to undertake research ethically and responsibly at the highest professional standards

Research Methods

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Week 10
Weighting: 0%

 

The goal of this task is for you to really scrutinise the experimental and/or theoretical design of your research and to write the methods section of your thesis.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Formulate a research question that has the potential to make original contributions within their research field
  • Use well-developed judgement to undertake research ethically and responsibly at the highest professional standards
  • Conduct independent scholarly research in your field or discipline following well-established research methodology within their research field.
  • Undertake a qualitative or quantitative analysis of the data collected, identify and apply appropriate research methods for the research question at hand, inclusive of critical reasoning, argumentation and justification.

Literature Review

Assessment Type 1: Literature review
Indicative Time on Task 2: 40 hours
Due: Week 13
Weighting: 0%

 

The goal of this task is to collate and understand the background literature for your chosen project and to produce a written report which will be part of your thesis.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Formulate a research question that has the potential to make original contributions within their research field
  • Research and compose a comprehensive and critical literature review in a specific research area centered around a research question.
  • Use well-developed judgement to undertake research ethically and responsibly at the highest professional standards
  • Conduct independent scholarly research in your field or discipline following well-established research methodology within their research field.

Research Frontiers 2

Assessment Type 1: Poster
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Late June
Weighting: 10%

 

This will have two components: (1) a research poster and (2) five short reports on your attended Departmental seminars.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Research and compose a comprehensive and critical literature review in a specific research area centered around a research question.
  • Use well-developed judgement to undertake research ethically and responsibly at the highest professional standards

Thesis

Assessment Type 1: Thesis
Indicative Time on Task 2: 1084 hours
Due: November
Weighting: 90%

 

This is the major component of the year, the writing of a thesis; the other activities are all designed to support this.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Formulate a research question that has the potential to make original contributions within their research field
  • Research and compose a comprehensive and critical literature review in a specific research area centered around a research question.
  • Use well-developed judgement to undertake research ethically and responsibly at the highest professional standards
  • Conduct independent scholarly research in your field or discipline following well-established research methodology within their research field.
  • Undertake a qualitative or quantitative analysis of the data collected, identify and apply appropriate research methods for the research question at hand, inclusive of critical reasoning, argumentation and justification.
  • Write a significant research thesis of 20,000 words with a professional presentation

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

All the resources will be provided on ilearn and the students are expected to study the reading materials provided on a weekly basis.

We may also hold 2-hour weekly meetings when necessary to discuss the study material in more detail and to help the MRes program and Activities in particular.

 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2023.01R of the Handbook